‘Our politics is not clean; decades of struggle brought no change’

Today, at Patishar in Naogaon, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir spent the day in a Rabindra-themed atmosphere. He inaugurated the celebrations of the 165th birth anniversary of the world-famous Poet at the Kachari Bari in the morning. He later attended a discussion meeting organized by the district administration.

In his keynote speech, the senior BNP leader recalled his father’s love for literature and the timeless works of Rabindranath Tagore.

“My father was a strong-willed politician and belonged to the Muslim League. He used to go for morning walks every day. After returning, he would recite Tagore’s poem Shah Jahan. In poetry, prose, drama, and music, Rabindranath had a free and unmatched presence. He shook the world with Gitanjali. I often feel that one can keep reading Rabindranath throughout life and still not finish him,” he said.

At the same time, he reflected on the country’s current political situation.

“We do politics, and we have spent our entire lives in politics. Our politics is not beautiful, not clean. People have repeatedly struggled for change, sacrificed lives for it, tried to bring change. But unfortunately, change has not come,” he said.

“There is a pessimistic group in our country. They remain in constant despair. They try to keep society unstable in different ways,” he added.

“I do not want to refer to any specific party or individual. I only want to say that we must remember our core foundation, the 1971 Liberation War. Our identity, our distinct existence, that we are Bangladeshis, must be remembered first. We did not gain independence easily. We fought for nine months. Through that struggle, we achieved independence. We regained democracy through struggle as well,” he said.

He also expressed concern that attempts were being made to create “disturbance” around the changes brought by the July movement.

“Our children together fought the July struggle, which we call the July war. Change has come. A new election has taken place. People now have hopes in the new government. The fascist forces destroyed the country, looted the economy abroad, looted banks, and ruined the administration. We reached this stage through resistance against them,” he said.

“Many are now trying to divert this change in a different direction and create unrest over small issues. We do not want any more unrest in the country,” he added.

At this point, the BNP Secretary General also highlighted Rabindranath Tagore’s contributions beyond literature.

“Whenever Rabindranath came here, he saw the suffering of farmers and established banks. He introduced modern methods of agriculture to modernize farming. These were beyond his literary works and creative expression. I am neither a theorist nor a scholar. I have no special academic expertise in literature. I love literature, I love Tagore’s literature, I love Nazrul’s literature, I love all kinds of literature. But I cannot write anything myself,” he said.

“A person who practices literature, listens to poetry, writes poetry, or listens to music and sings, such a person is undoubtedly a good human being,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir added.

The event at Patishar was attended by Special Guests including Land Minister Mizanur Rahman Minu, State Minister for Culture Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam, National Parliament Whip and former minister Advocate M. Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, along with Members of Parliament from Naogaon.